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Liberation The space around Sigma Octanus I was filled with debris. Everywhere you looked, there were meteors from large asteroids that had been blasted apart, scrap metal from past battles and frozen pieces of rock orbiting the planet. After the planet had been glassed, the Covenant had begun sending it's ships through this sector, reestablishing their navigational bearings and reentering slipstream. It was because of the amount of objects in space that helped them do this without human interference. No one would notice the small stealth probe placed there, that served as a warning to the Covenant ships... The red armored grunt sat in the sensor pod, leaning back in his chair looking slowly from sensor to sensor. For such a remote place, there had been a great deal of human activity here today. There were a few destroyers that came in system that he had to notify the fleet about. But they were chased off within a few moments. A few bombers passed through the system too, which the grunt found quite odd, but called in the fleet once more. A few of the fighters were destroyed, but most managed to make it away. The natural paranoia of the grunt, that was a characteristic of his race, made him wonder what the humans were up to. He felt as if they knew he was there, but there was no way they could. The small pod was jet black, sporting camouflage for tight situations, as well as being so small that it could not have been noticed. It was also smaller then any other Covenant ship and required next to no power to run, partly because it had no energy shielding. The only time one of the Covenant's sensor pods was found was while one was moving out of the system. But he had no reason to move. He liked it where he was. Safe and fighting the humans in his own way - without being on the battle field. The grunt's eyes slowly sifted to the last sensor, to see something that wasn't quite right. There was movement of black on black, as well as a few objects that hadn't been there an hour before. He quickly punched patches of the holopanel in front of him to see what he feared. Two stealth ships, a stealth bomber and a small shuttle moving toward him. He hit a patch signaling a distress signal to the Covenant fleet. But he knew it would take them at least ten minutes to reach this place. Then it might be too late... The grunt was pulled from this thought when he heard a warning flare; Incoming Archer Missiles. This pod wouldn't be able to stand one Archer, let alone multiple. They began exploding in the space around him. They had not acquired a lock, but the grunt was too scared to care. He quickly hit the throttle, and went flying into space. As soon as he did so, there was another alarm sounding. This one long and monotonous. A missile lock. The grunt cried, as the pod was hit. Surprisingly, nothing was destroyed, but the ship was completely dead. An EMP blast had hit the pod, causing it to go dead. After thirty seconds, the shuttle had picked up the pod and it had been attached to it's hull, as the Covenant fleet arrived. The stealth ship slowly began to move to a randomized slipstream vector, in time to escape and leave the Covenant fleet behind, without them having a chance to determine their exact coordinates. "Yes, sir, we have successfully captured the Covenant Navigation Pod," Captain Marshall said to the holographed man standing in the holotank in front of him. "We are beginning to take apart its Nav base now, we currently have 4 locations... no, make that 5 Covenant locations." The man standing in the hologram nodded. "Good work Marshall. This could potentially save the human race! Good work. Come out of Slipstream and head toward Earth as quickly as you can!" the man said. "Yes, Admiral," Marshall said, saluting. Admiral Stanforth returned the salute, and faded away. The count of coordinates in front of him changed to six. All of the coordinates were unmarked, providing no clue as to what they were. But all the same, it would no doubt provide the humans with an advantage that could win the war. The grunt heard the engines of the ship above him stutter, signaling they had come out of slipstream. He knew now that there was no way for him to be saved, and he would soon die at the hands of the humans. But if he was going to die, he was going to save the Covenant's Nav database in the progress. Marshall prepared to reenter slipstream, giving his orders to his junior lieutenants, when something came to his attention. On the screen in front of him was the display of both the Covenant ships data, as well as their ships. The engines on the ship below him seemed to be powering up, to the point of overheating. "Lieutenant George, what's going on with that pod's engine?" Marshall quickly demanded. He quickly checked the engines of the craft, surprised to see what was on the viewscreen. "What the hell? The engine temperature is rising at an incredible rate! Detonation in 10!" George frantically yelped. "Disengage! All power to engines!!" Marshall barked. The crew jumped into action, but was too late. The stealth ship had only gotten a kilometer away when the pod detonated. The plasma explosion would be enough to destroy a city the size of New York, and easily engulfed the stealth ship and the bomber, destroying them both. The pod and the bomber were vaporized instantly, with the hull of the stealth ship floating lazily through space. Before the pod detonated, the stealth ship had time to send a mayday that was intercepted within an hour. The Covenant pod had sent a series of messages, only to be intercepted by one ship that was within the range of the weakened communications system. The mayday arrived merely seconds after the destroyer, Heracles, came out of slipstream. Lieutenant Colonel Bates quickly read the transmission. A stealth cruiser and bomber both being in one place at once, and both being destroyed at one time? Something was up. Bates pressed a button on his command chair to prepare the AI they had deactivated after entering slipstream; the AI hadn't been working properly. The mysteries of how it came into being were shrouded by many rumors, few people actually knowing. All he knew is that it was not human, and something about it rubbed him the wrong way. A moment later a voice came over the PA in the bridge. The AI had recently been place on the ship, and was apparently so new to operation that it had yet to have found a form to shape in the holotank, which Bates had considered odd. The voice had a slight english accent, and had the same high-pitched know it all attitude that Bates also disliked. "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Bates?" the voice said. "Begin thawing the troops, looks like we're headed into another battle," Bates responded, hating the fact that he had to work with such an irritating AI. "Yes, right away sir!" the voice said, chipper and eager as always. "The Spartans will be most pleased to be operating once more!" "Uh, this may be an odd request, but could you try to tone it down?" Bates asked, with a frown on his face. "Why, whatever do you mean, sir?" the voice was still as irritating as before. It drove into the LT's head like a dentist drill. "Never mind, Spark, never mind," Bates said. Despite his attitude toward the AI, Bates had to admit, the AI had a vast knowledge, as well as astounding battle tactics. Despite this, Bates knew that as all 'smart' AI's, this one would die in seven years. And he hoped he could be around to witness it. Part II: When a Spartan's on a mission... Teff, the Master Chief of the Spartan IIIs, had only been awake for an hour or so, and he had already suited up for the mission that he was given, even though they were still thirty minutes out of the position and still in slipstream. Teff had also made sure the rest of his Spartans were ready. Something big was always going on when a stealth cruiser was found, but to have both a bomber and cruiser meant something especially large. Perhaps a Covenant force foiled an intelligence breakthrough? Only time would tell. Bates had made sure that Teff knew he would be together with Spark on this mission. For one thing, Bates hated the damn AI, but it would also aid Teff quite a bit in battle. The AI's past had been shrouded in mystery, only Teff, the Spartan IIIs, and a few technicians on the planet Thermopylae knew of it. During a past operation, the Spartans first, they had boarded a ruined Covenant cruiser called 'The Advocate' and had encountered a small ancient AI by the name 343 Guilty Spark. The small robot had been destroyed, but his databanks had been recovered, providing a wealth of information, including the new MarkVI MJOLNIR suits the Spartans wore. From the databanks, they were able to recover Spark's personality, including all of the data and normal functions of a shipboard AI. Seeing as the Heracles didn't have any AI currently, they decided to issue the AI to Teff and the ship Heracles while he was active on it. As the Spartans made their last check of weapons, and other miscellaneous items and equipment, LT Bates stepped through the door. Thanks to their enhanced senses, all of the Spartans immediately leaped to their feet, saluted, and yelled in unison, "Officer on deck!" Teff could tell immediately the LT wasn't used to quite a response. He stood there stunned for a moment. "At ease," Bates began, but the Spartans didn't move. Bates returned the salute, and they all lowered their arms. "Well, I have spoken with Admiral Stanforth, and it appears this operation may be more important then we all realized. It seems that after entering the Sigma Octanus I, a fleet was ambushed by a far superior Covenant force. The group immediately fled the system with next to no casualties. An hour later, fighters from a reconnaissance picket of ours came in system, and were once again confronted by a superior force then theirs. Seeing as the fleet hadn't arrived, they were suspicious. They caught a signal being sent from a large debris field moments before the Covenant arrived. After word of this had gotten to Stanforth, he deployed the stealth ships in an effort to find out what was happening. After a sweep, they picked up a tiny signal that seemed to be emitting a small amount of power. They began firing missiles at it, hoping to draw it out. They found a sensor pod, disabled it, and were on its way back to earth when, apparently, the pod exploded. Now, the cruiser had found some major coordinates concerning Covenant-predicted space. It is possible, however miniscule, that this information survived the blast. You must find the remains of the ship, find the bridge, and try to retrieve this information. This information could prolong the life span of the human race, because, as you know, we are not faring well. The Covenant is most likely going to beat us there. That is why you are going in, not the technicians. Any questions?" Dawson, one of the largest Spartans, nearly seven feet tall, raised his hand, and Bates nodded to him. "Is there any prediction on the size of the Covenant force?" Dawson asked. "For all we know, they could have no clue that this is going on, but the ONI spooks don't want to take that chance. They want this information, at any cost." "Don't worry, sir," Teff said, finally lowering his salute. "When the Spartans have a mission, we get the job done." When the Heracles came out of slipstream, it immediately scanned the area. Surprisingly, the only thing in the area was one Covenant small cruiser. Some of these ships were known to not carry shields, but instead, hordes of troops for boarding ships. This was not the case with this cruiser, as when the Heracles entered the system, its shields had just come up, sending a grey sheen over the entire cruiser. The Spartans had already boarded their Pelican, and were waiting for the go-ahead from the bridge. Within a few moments, Bates came on the PA. "Spartans, we have a Covenant cruiser in sight, with their personnel pods heading towards us and the stealth cruiser. Advise that some Spartans stay behind to defend the ship. The stealth cruiser is completely powered down, except some areas in the bridge, which means gravity is down." "Sir," Dawson spoke to Teff. "I volunteer my services to defend the Heracles. I like my gravity as it is." Teff couldn't see below his helmet, but he knew he was smiling. Dawson was, by far, the least qualified for no gravity combat. Nine other Spartans volunteered to stay behind, the other ten, commanded by Teff, were headed for the Heracles. "Spartans, be ready with thruster packs to jettison the Pelican," Teff said as they left the hangar. "If we get incoming plasma, there's no way this baby will hold together." Just as Teff said that, he saw red motes light appearing on the scout ship, and heard a loud blaring indicating a target lock. Part III: Gravity's a Spartan's best friend As soon as Teff had heard the alarm, he knew the Pelican was done for. He began barking out orders, and getting ready to jump as soon as he could. "Grab anything you can carry and take it with you! But nothing that will burden us too much!" Teff yelled over the blaring alarm. Within six seconds of the alarm going off, Teff's entire team at exited the Pelican and were now using their thruster packs to head in closer to the leftover of the stealth cruiser's hull, but Teff stayed behind. "Excuse me, shouldn't we abandon this craft?" Spark asked, surprisingly quiet so far. Teff responded, "If this baby's going down, she's going to help take out that Covenant ship. With that Teff hit the thrusters on the Pelican so they would jam at maximum speed heading straight towards the Covenant ship which was now only a few hundred kilometers away. Teff abandoned the Pelican, in time to see the large red bolts of plasma fly over top of the Pelican, skimming the top and heading toward the Heracles. A plasma torpedo on the other hand hit the Pelican, but not to stop it's forward momentum. The Pelican crashed at full speed into the Covenant ship, sending it toppling through the vaccuum of space. One MAC round hit the spinning ship, destroying what little was left of it. Dawson and his group of Spartans hadn't even finished readying their equipment when the announcement came over the PA. "Covenant boarding craft landed, decks A through F, give em hell marines!" Bates yelled over the PA. "You heard the man!" Dawson yelled to his team. "Let's give those marines a hand! On the double!" With that the Spartans sprinted towards the closest deck, F. They had reached it within five minutes of running, one end of the vast ship to the other, to see the marine forces in the area had been obliterated. They hid in a corridor that was just outside the Covenant troop's position. "We have tons of enemy signals on the motion tracker, sir," Private Huds said. "From the looks of their movement, they seem to be reinforcing. I am picking up energy levels that match those of stationary shields." "They're digging in? Why don't they move toward the bridge?" Dawson questioned out loud. "Maybe they know we're here," Sergeant Powell said. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we keep them from reaching the bridge. So lets do it," Dawson said, loading his Assault Rifle and releasing the safety. As Teff floated toward the floating hulk of the stealth cruiser, he could see just how much damage it had taken; the back end had been completely vaporized, the middle section melted, and the front was still mostly intact. The bridge seemed to be the least damaged area of the ship, which would help them get the coordinates. "Alright people," Teff spoke over an open comm channel to all his Spartans in space. "Enter through the life pod junction, deck 4-A." Lights winked over his HUD letting him know his team acknowledged. A Nav point appeared on his HUDs, as well as all of the other Spartan's. "Sir, the Covenant pods are landing now," Boarders said over the open channel. He was the first to leave the Pelican, and apparently the closest to the ship. The Spartans all flew into the hole where the life pods once were, and prepare to blow the door open. They had reached the life pods without Covenant interference. Perhaps they thought the Spartans had gone down with the Pelican. "Spark, can you find a way to open this door?" Teff seemingly spoke to himself. "Yes, give me just a moment," Spark said in his irritating British voice. "Why did we have to reactivate that little bas-" Boarders began. "There, the door is powered down! You should be able to open it freely now!" Spark said in his extremely chipper voice. "Thanks Spark, good work," Teff said. He knew this was Spark's first combat oriented mission, so he decided to encourage the AI. "Oh thank you, Master Chief. I don't like to brag, but I seem to have you ships systems 'licked', as you would say. It seems that-" Spark began. "Spark, in combat, we don't explain. We do as we're asked and we shut up," Teff said, beginning to have a dislike for the AI already. "Oh... I see... so sorry!" Spark said. Boarders lowered and shook his head. Teff floated toward the large door, and motioned three others to help him. They all lifted with their might, but the zero gravity sent them tossing and turning in every direction. This wasn't going to work. Teff sighed. "Jackhammers up," Teff called, gesturing for the other three Spartans to move back. "We only have one, sir, but it has two rockets," Boarders informed him. "It should do the job." One of the other Spartans lifted the Jackhammer and aimed it at the door. "Everyone out," Teff yelled. The other nine Spartans came out of the cover of the ship to see thirty jackals and forty grunts heading toward them. Teff pulled out a grenade and lobbed it through the vaccuum. It landed behind the front line of jackals, sending their mangled bodies in various directions through space. There was a wink on his HUD, followed by another. The signal that the way was clear. "Everyone back in the hole!" Teff yelled. The Spartans flailed in the zero gravity, not looking quite like the super soldiers they were. "I have mapped out your route, follow each of the Nav points I have set," Spark said over the open channel as the last of the Spartans slipped inside of the ship. Spark was efficient, but a little over the top. Teff set a Lotus anti-tank mine just inside the life pod door, and set the proximity charge. If anything was coming in, it would have a hell of a surprise. The Spartans began wandering through the passages of the stealth ship. Teff had never been on board one, so it was a good thing that Spark had laid out a map. For the most part, the ship was intact. At times the Spartans would run into beams that had collapsed through the roof, or huge gashes through the bottom of the ship. The lack of gravity also slowed their trek. They had reached the bridge without coming close to any other Covenant. Teff inserted Spark into the holotank, and the bridge instantly flared to life. "Gathering coordinate data now," Spark said. "Good, we need to get back to the Heracles," Teff said. "Oh dear!" Spark suddently yelled. "Oh my oh my, this is not good!" "What is it Spark?" Teff yelled at the confused robot. "Coordinate data gathered, but we have to get out of here! No time for an explanation!" Teff grabbed Spark and fired his thruster pack, sending him down the hallway. His Spartans followed close behind. "Shit!" he heard one of the Spartans yell. With that there was a large explosion, sending the ship's hulk spiraling. Part IV: Be Vewwy Quiet. I'm Huntin' Grunts Dawson examined his motion tracker. Nearly every signal that was on it before had disappeared. That was potentially forty Covenant troops that had just all stopped moving for no reason. Dawson hit the side of his helmet to see if only his suit had a slight malfunction, but it was dead on. Dawson took out his fiber optic probe, plugged it into the side of his helmet and snaked it around the corner. Dawson was wrong when he had said forty. There were easily eighty grunts in the long corridor that housed what used to be twenty life pods. At the end of the hall, he caught a glint of something shining. He wasn't sure what, but he bet it wasn't good. Dawson whispered to his team of nine Spartans, trying to keep his voice barely audible. "There's no cover out there. Although they are grunts, it does not mean we can head straight at them, while they're on guard and most of them with charged plasma. And I'm pretty sure I saw either a large grouping of elites, or hunters at the opposite end. If we can take care of those, we'll have no trouble with the panic stricken grunts. Any ideas?" Teff asked, looking between the Spartans. Powell spoke up first. "We can use the maintenance ducts to flank them. Half the group can head for the hunters, the other half wait here for the assault to begin. The grunts won't know what to do, especially if we can take out whatever leadership they have here." "Good idea Powell. You lead the assault from this end, I'll take Green 7-10 with me. Greens 3-6, you are under the command of Green 2. Got that?" Dawson asked. "Yes sir," the Spartans said quietly, but still with the authority that would make a leader proud. Dawson entered the duct on his behind them and motioned the others to follow. He switched on his flashlight, and began navigating the corridors. Before long, he had reached a fork. Dawson motioned for Greens 8 and 9 to take the left, the rest would go right. They reached an exit point, and Dawson immediately gestured for all lights off. They could hear the clanking of armor; definitely hunters. Dawson risked a glance. He saw two hunters, and one elite with a plasma sword. Dawson slowly moved back and informed all of Green squad. "Greens 8 and 9? Where is your exit point?" Dawson asked. "Between the grunt and elite position. We practically have a clean shot at its head. Wait..." Green 8 stopped. Her voice was much quieter now, barely audible. "The hunters are moving toward your position." "Green 2, your team ready?" Dawson asked quickly and quietly. Powell's light on Dawson's HUD winked yes. "Good, get ready to-" Dawson was cut off. The door beside him was torn away to reveal a hunter's charged fuel rod aimed directly at the group of Spartans. "Scatter!!" Dawson cried. The three of them leaped from the duct in time to see it turn to a burning crater. They could see that the elite had torn off the door, and the other hunter was expecting them to leap out. The hunter immediately hit the closest Spartan with its great shield, grunting with its might. Green 7 went flying backward, hitting a wall and sliding to the ground. The hunters began recharging right away, preparing to fire again, with the elite and his plasma sword coming closer. Suddenly, the elite's shield dimmed, and the golden behemoth fell forward, a bullet protruding from the back of it's head. Green 8 stood behind the two hunters, sniper rifle leveled. The hunters turned toward her and fired. Green 8 ducked the blasts, sending the plasma into the group of grunts that had just begun to comprehend what was happening. Dozens of grunts flew in all directions, and more screamed as he could hear MA5B's in the background. Dawson immediately ran up to one of the hunters. He stuck his shotgun into the orange flesh on the beast's back, and fired. The hunter began to bleed, but showed no signs of pain. It turned and elbowed Dawson, sending him a few feet away from where he stood before. The hunter turned to fire his next plasma burst at him. Dawson rolled out of the way, feeling heat fly over his head. He noticed the other squad moving to help him as he stood up. The hunter loomed right in front of him. It was the first time Dawson had ever seen one up close. It had no facial features, no visible eyes, nose, or mouth. Only two slits where it's eyes should be, and orange all over. The beast raised his shield and went to slam it on top of Dawson. Dawson quickly evaded, and fired his shotgun at the beast once more. The other hunter had apparently slowed Green team's progress, but he saw Green 8 come up behind the hunter. Dawson evaded another attack from the hunter in front of him, hitting the ground as the shield flew over his head. Dawson lifted his shotgun up and into the hunter's stomach. The hunter began bleeding profusely, but still showed no sign of pain. Suddenly there was an explosion behind the hunter, sending him flying through the air and impacting on the wall. Green 8 stood there, standing just out of where the fuel rod had exploded, the other hunter aiming directly at her. The grunts were nearly at wiped out, a few still trying to run to the life pods to save themselves. Dawson stood, and ran as fast as he could at the remaining hunter. He leaped at the beast, and put his shotgun right where it's mouth should have been, and pulled the trigger. The hunter went slack, and began teetering. Dawson pushed himself off the hunter, and stood back, expecting the bleeding creature to fall. Instead, the hunter shook off the pain, and leveled his fuel rod at him. Dawson leaped out of the way of the blast, revealing Green 8. The blast knocked her from her feet, and sent her toppling down the hallway. The other Spartans had finished off the rest of the grunts and began firing at the remaining hunter. The amount of targets dispersed around it appeared to confuse the hunter, but after a second of disorientation, it fired again. Green 6 and 7 rolled out of the way easily. Dawson leaped up and ran as fast as he could at the hunter. The hunter had begun to charge his fuel rod cannon, aiming directly at him. When Dawson reached the great beast again, he grabbed the fuel rod, and stuck a live plasma grenade into the barrel. "This better kill you, you sonofabitch!" Dawson then leaped back, a full four metres, in time to see the fireworks. The plasma grenade went off first, tossing the hunter's arm into the air. The fuel rod then ignited, making a green explosion thrice the size of the hunter, sending Spartans flying uninjured in every direction from the blast. When Dawson stood and looked at the hunter again, he noticed that its entire arm and some of it's shoulder had been vaporized. The rest of the armor was tarnished green, and the orange skin seemed to have been peeled off. It was quite the gruesome sight. "Someone get a medic here quick!" Powell yelled into his intercom. He stood by Green 8's body. It lied there, not moving. The armor at least had not been punctured, meaning that she was not necessarily dead, but Dawson felt horrible after what he had caused. Dawson slumped his head and walked over to Green 7. "Are you okay, Harvey? That hunter gave you a good whack," Dawson asked. "Fine. One hell of a hangover, but fine," Harvey replied. Even with the blast shield, Dawson could tell he was smiling. Harvey was always smiling. Liberation Part IV: Don't pout, there's dropships about Liberation Part VI: Plasma anyone? Bates slowly received firing solutions, and launched his missiles. Although the small cruiser was destroyed, a great number of personnel pods had made it off. The least Bates could do was cover the Spartans before Covenant reinforcements were sure to arrive. The Heracles had been picking off the pods ever since the Spartan's Pelican had launched. Only two pods had landed on the ship, one near the Spartan's entry point, the other crash landing somewhere within the back portions of the ship. But these the Spartans could handle. He made sure his crews and single ship fighters were ready for the Covenant reinforcements that were sure to come. They would not give up something as important as these coordinates. Bates was surprised they had only sent the small cruiser to begin with. "All men to their Longswords," Bates said over the PA. "But do not, I repeat, do not begin take off cycles. We may need to get out of here in a hurry. "Sir, we have incoming Covenant vessels from slipstream," Junior Lieutenant Hughes informed him. "All I see are two destroyers." "Is that all son?" Bates asked, mockingly. "That's more then enough to keep us busy." "No, sir, scratch that," Hughes said again. Bates waited for a moment, then became frustrated. "Well, Hughes, what is it?" Bates yelled at him. "Well, uh, I can't be sure, sir," Hughes began nervously as he looked over the slipstream reports. "Out with it!" "Sir... from my analysis, there are the two original destroyers, a carrier, and what seem to be two medium class cruisers," Hughes said, beginning to shake. "...And a cruiser destroyer." The man looked as if he was told he had to fight a hunter hand to hand. Bates took a step back, then hit the seat of his chair. There was no way the Heracles could repel that, even if it had a full armament of Shiva warheads. "Johnson, prepare a randomized outward vector," Bates said quietly. "But, sir, the Spartans, they're still -" Johnson began. "Just do it, dammit!" Bates yelled, suddenly rising to his feet. "Yes, sir," Johnson said, lowering his head and typing furiously at the panel in front of him. "We aren't going to abandon those soldiers, but we need to be ready to leave once they're aboard," Bates informed his crew. Some of them sagged with relief, others sagging with the realization that they wouldn't survive this fight. Green holes began to form in the area where the scout ship had been, and two destroyers appeared. The carrier followed, with the cruiser destroyer and two medium sized cruisers following. Bates looked over his tactical data. It appeared all of the ships were heading towards the stealth cruiser, and the small Seraph fighters and bombers toward the Heracles. "Send out all single ship fighters," Bates said. "We need to try to buy them some time, get me firing solutions for our MAC gun and Archer missiles. All power to MAC gun chargers, until the Seraphs open fire on us." "Yes, sir!" Jacobs, his weapons officer, responded. Within moments of pounding away at his station, Jacobs was finished. "Sir, firing solutions done, awaiting orders." "Take that cruiser down, Lieutenant," Bates said harshly. The bridge darkened and the entire ship shuddered as the MAC round was released, followed by the Archer missiles. In the time that the Heracles had been coordinating itself, the Covenant fleet had being doing so as well. The two destroyers were in front, covering the cruiser destroyer. The carrier resided in the back, as it lacked the punch needed for this operation. Oddly though, the Covenant cruiser they had fired upon was moving outward by itself toward the stealth cruiser. "Johnson? What's that cruiser's course?" "One moment... Collision with the stealth cruiser in forty-eight seconds," Johnson said, finally regaining his composure. "How long until the MAC rounds and Archer missiles hit?" "Twenty-eight seconds, sir," Jacobs said. Whatever the Covenant was planning to do with that cruiser, they wouldn't get a chance, thought Bates. "When MAC guns are recharged, fire another shot at that cruiser," Bates said to Jacobs. Jacobs entered a few commands into his station, and said, "%100 in forty seconds." "Seraphs in range of Longswords in thirty, sir," Hughes said. "Activate all gattling guns, let's give them any help we can. If any bombers prepare for a bombing run, I want Anvil II Missiles after them. Everyone understand?" All the bridge crew nodded. Ten bombers were enough to cripple a UNSC ship if given the chance. The forty that were breathing down on them could outright destroy them. "Hit in five, sir," Jacobs said. Bates counted down in his mind, as he saw the MAC round strike the cruiser. What Bates expected was to see was the Covenant shield shimmer and dissipate, as he had many times during his career. But when the MAC round hit the ship, there were no signs of any shield. Instead, the entire cruiser exploded, bigger then Bates had ever seen any Covenant weapon explode. Although the stealth cruiser was out of the blast radius, the shockwave from the explosion sent the cruiser hurtling through space. Even the Heracles, which was out of range of a nuclear blast from the cruiser, felt the shockwave. Bates fell backward, landing in his command chair. Bates knew the Covenant's battle strategies were self-sacrificial, but this was a kamikaze attempt. The Covenant capital ships, which until this time seemed oriented toward the stealth cruiser, turned to face them. The destroyers' and cruiser destroyer's shields had been taken out by the blast though, making them prime targets. "Fire MAC gun at cruiser destroyer, and as many Archer missiles as we can spare!" Bates cried. Jacobs typed furiously for two seconds, then the ship darkened and shuddered as the MAC round was released. Bates could see thousands of Archer missiles come from all sides of the Heracles, all on the same course. "Sir, the Spartans are contacting us," George, his communications officer said. As Bates heard this he looked at the progress of the Longswords. They were being torn apart. He cursed, then opened the channel the Spartans had contacted them on. "Teff? How is it going down there? We need to get out of here fast. There is no way we can take on a force that size. We're having enough trouble with their Seraphs as it is," Bates said angrily, beginning to tense up from the stress of battle. "We have retrieved the coordinate data, and need immediate extraction. As of now, we have no way to return, as you know our Pelican was destroyed. There is no way we could all survive the trip back to the Heracles with only thruster packs with those Seraphs swarming you," Teff came over the bridge PA, beginning to break up. "Hughes, how many Pelicans do we have left?" Bates asked. "We have two, but one is in need of repair from our last operation," Hughes replied quickly. "Good, send a message over the PA to have the Spartans take the Pelican and get those soldiers," Bates said, relaxing a little. "Yes, sir," Hughes said, turning to activate the PA system. "The Covenant forces on the ship have all been eliminated - they sent a surprisingly small force. The Spartans are on their way to extract you," Bates told Teff. "Good, have them meet us where we came in, it's the only place we have a certain exit," Teff said. "Thank you, sir." "Move our gattling guns to cover the Spartans. If they don't make it back, this entire battle had no point," Bates said. "Sir, the MAC round is about to hit," Jacobs informed him. Bates looked at his tacitcal display. The MAC round cut directly through the bridge, going straight through to the engines. The ship shuddered slightly, but continued on course. Jacobs hammered away on his console once more. "Sir, request permission to retarget Archers to head for bridge?" "Permission granted, Lieutenant," Bates said, nodding. Jacobs was a smart man, unlike the rest of his bridge crew. The first slew of Archers tore away the bridge. He could tell that the cruiser destroyer was inoperable, but Bates suddenly had an idea. "Jacobs, quickly retarget the missiles to fly straight through the MAC hole to the reactors." "Sir that could take up to five minutes, I don't know if I can..." Jacobs looked at Bates, who was grinning maliciously. Jacobs returned the smile, and responded, "Yes sir!" Jacobs hammered away once more at his station, shook his wrists out, then continued to batter at the keys. The last of the Archers were about to hit, when Bates saw them change course on his tactical display. "Good job, Lieutenant," Bates said, walking over to Jacobs and patting him on the shoulder. The Archer missiles filed into the hole, and within seconds, a fireball erupted in space, destroying the cruiser destroyer, carrier, and injuring the other two destroyers. The medium cruiser, which was well out of range of the explosion, had begun to move toward the stealth cruiser's hulk. Bates only hoped the Spartans could get out of there in time. The destroyers had gone back to watching the stealth cruiser, as they had taken enough damage to render them useless in battle. After only a minute, the Spartan Pelican had reached the stealth cruiser. The destroyers opened fire on them, and Bates winced. The plasma missed the Pelicans, and hit the stealth cruiser. The Pelican began to move toward the Heracles. Dawson juked and jinked left to right, evading the Seraph's lasers. There were quite a few on their tail, slowly chipping away at the back of the Pelican. They had only made it half of the way to the Heracles, and already they were in trouble. Teff jumped into the cockpit. "Dawson, open the tail," Teff said. "We have a little something for them." "Yes sir," Dawson said, hitting a few of the keys on the front of the cockpit. The tailpiece opened to reveal three Seraph fighters. Teff ran back, and helped the other Spartans. They had constructed a large explosive from anti-tank mines and plasma grenades. They hurled the explosive out into space, and it impacted on the closest Seraph. Teff clicked the remote charge he had place in the device, and it detonated. Two of the three Seraphs were vaporized from the plasma and fragmentation explosion, and the other's shields were knocked out. Teff raised his pistol and fired three times at the Seraph, breaking the window and depressurizing the cockpit. The pilot was sucked out into space, and the Seraph floated away. "Sir, we're almost to the Heracles, approximately thirty-eight seconds out," Dawson told Teff. "Good," Teff said, looking around and surveying the group of Spartans. He counted them, and noticed one was missing. Teff walked over to Dawson. "Where's Green 8?" "Sir... she didn't make it," Dawson told him. Teff stood there for a moment, feeling no emotion at all. He knew that his soldiers weren't invincible. But, that didn't necessarily mean she was dead. A blast of plasma hit the side of the Pelican, sending it spiraling. "Green 7?" Dawson asked over an open channel. "Don't worry," came the cold hard voice of the sniper. Dawson could see the fighter bay now, with Green 7 pointing his rifle at the Seraphs that were moving in beside them. Green 7 leveled his rifle, and fired. The lead Seraph exploded, the bullet hitting the one unshielded part of the fighter, its engines. The other Seraphs were onto him, turning towards him. Another two shots and the engines of the second Seraph ignited. The Seraph began to fire, when the Pelican turned it's tail to it. The Spartans inside fired four jackhammer rockets, one taking out the shield, the other three eradicating the fighter. "Thanks, 7," Dawson said over the channel. "Don't mention it," he replied. The Pelican landed in the bay, and the Spartans filed out. Teff looked back at the Covenant fleet. The cruiser destroyer was no where to be seen, nor the carrier. All that remained were the two destroyers, which had taken a lot of combat damage, and one medium cruiser, which seemed like it was about to intercept the stealth cruiser. Within three seconds, the Covenant ship hit, and ignited in a ball of plasma the likes of which Teff had never seen. Both cruisers were completely vaporized, and the fighters swarming the Heracles began to ignore the Longswords and try to take out the ship, but within a few seconds, Teff saw they had entered slipstream. Teff approached Dawson soon after that, seeing that something was bothering him. Even with the blast shields covering his face, Teff could tell. He was talking with Green 7, Harvey, who was their only sniper other then Green 8, who also seemed trouble. "What's the matter, soldier?" Teff asked. Harvey and Dawson both jumped and saluted. Teff returned the salute then asked the question again. "What's the matter?" "It's Amber," Dawson said quietly. Harvey had removed his helmet, and patted Dawson on the back. For once, he was not smiling. "It wasn't your fault," Harvey told him, in his uncharacteristically low voice. "What happened?" Teff asked, knowing the answer would not be a good one. Liberation Part VII: Universal Road Map "As you can see, she isn't doing that well," the doctor told them, standing and walking over to them. Teff had never seen one of his soldiers so helpless. For the first time since he entered the room, he took his eyes off of Amber. "Didn't the armor protect her at all?" Teff asked. "Had it not been for the armor, she would have been killed instantly. I'm surprised as well that her body is in tact, the heat can usually vaporize a person instantly," the doctor said, looking glumly at the body. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Dr. Dan Jenkins. I'm the one that's going to be looking after number 84." "Her name is Amber," Teff said, looking back at her. They had been friends since childhood, even before the Spartan program. She was the only kid that could ever keep up to him in anything. "Estimate until she will be ready for battle?" Teff looked back to Jenkins, hoping for a close date. "Well, I can't predict accurately. The state she's in now could change suddenly for better or for worse. When she was brought here she was in a coma, and she shows no sign of waking up anytime soon. Also, as you can see, the armor on her legs has melted to her skin. It could take weeks to get that off without tearing muscle, skin, or bone," Jenkins explained. "Please, just tell me. Do you think she'll survive?" Teff asked. "Survive, yes. But I doubt that her legs will be much good to her when she wakes up, with the condition they're in. And because of all the problems we're going to have taking it all off. Plus replacing the armor, and retraining her mind, if there was any brain damage," Jenkins said. Teff finally walked over to her, and began to examine the armor around her legs. Dawson and Harvey followed him, flanking him silently. They had yet to say anything, nor make any sound. Teff could tell instantly that he did not like Jenkins. He was a civilian, too used to treating civilians, he had never seen a soldier as potent, strong, or willful as Amber. He looked up to Jenkins, who stared back at the three Spartans. He obviously wasn't used to them. "Do you know what you're problem is, Jenkins?" Teff asked. Jenkins continued staring, not answering. "You don't know what a Spartan is capable of" Jenkins still looked confused. Teff raised his fist, and brought it down fairly hard on the right leg. There was a soft crack. Jenkins jerked suddenly. "What the hell are you doing!?" Jenkins screamed, running to grab Teff's arm. "I think you should let go, Doctor," Teff said quietly. The other two Spartans stepped forward. Jenkins let go of Teff, and ran out of the room. Teff brought his fist down on the armor again, and again. Jenkins came running in, with fourteen marines pointing MA5B Assault Rifles. "Stand down, sir!" One of the marines yelled, taking the safety off. Teff raised his fist, still watching the marine. He was trembling, sweating. He knew what the Spartans were capable of, and what would happen if he stood up to them. Teff's fist came down once more on the armor, and the armor finally split. Because of the fuel rod strike, the armor had weakened, but they could see that the skin had not been harmed. Amber's legs looked as they always had, covered with freckles, no notable cuts or bruises. Teff began grabbing and pulling away at the armor. After the armor was off, Jenkins stepped forward. His mouth began moving, but nothing came out. Teff put the armor in the stunned doctor's hand. "My way works, yours doesn't," Teff said, looking down on the doctor. With that, Teff, Dawson, and Harvey filed out of the room. The three Spartans reached the bridge to find Boarders speaking to Lieutenant Colonel Bates. Boarders had taken off his armor, so was now only eight inches taller then Bates, as opposed to the whole foot while wearing the MJOLNIR. "Where are the rest of the Spartans?" Teff asked, the moment he walked in, interrupting whatever Bates was saying to Boarders. "They're getting some much deserved rest," replied Bates. "As your two escorts should. We need to discuss some of the things we found in that stealth cruiser." "Yes, indeed we do," Spark's voice boomed throughout the bridge. "My men are here now, they can discuss along with us, unless they need the rest," Teff said, looking specifically at Dawson. It was hard the first time one of your soldiers got hurt, especially if you thought you were the reason why. Dawson looked over to Bates, and spoke normally and clearly, although Teff knew that was not how he felt. "I will be in my quarters, sir," Dawson said, saluting Teff and Bates. They returned the salute and he wandered off. Teff removed his helmet, and Harvey followed suit. He still had his grin on his boyish face, making him look like nothing bad had happened that day. Bates turned to the tactical map, and spoke to the AI within the bridge. "Spark, display the list of coordinates we intercepted from the stealth cruiser," Bates told the AI. "Yes, sir, right away. Although I could accurately map out the -" Spark began. "Just the coordinates," Bates cut him off. The AI was silent, as a list of numbers appeared on the screen. Five sets of coordinates lined up, with one of them missing two of the final numbers. Bates walked forward, and began speaking as if lecturing a young child. "Now, as you can see, all of these coordinates seem quite different," Bates said, giving Teff time to look them all over. Boarders merely nodded, as he obviously had already received this speech from Bates. "They are all different, except for one similarity." Bates pointed to one of the numbers, concerned with a certain axis in space, and the numbers lined up on top of each other. "Now, you can see a pattern here. They are only different by an interval of two." Teff reexamined the numbers. They followed in the order - 200 - 202 - 200 - 198 - ???. "As you can see, part of this coordinate has been lost, but if we follow the pattern, we can fill in the last one as 200. Map, Spark." The coordinates disappeared, and a 3-Dimensional map appeared in the middle of the bridge, with four regions marked. "Each of these is near a planet, as they should be for military bases. But, if we follow the pattern, the fifth would appear here." With that, another marker popped up. "The only problem with this region, though, is that there is nothing around it. It is out of the way of any inhabitable planet or region around the residing five stars. We can only assume two things from this. These coordinates could be completely off the mark, or it could be something the Covenant does not want us to find. Something they don't want anyone to find." Teff stood there for a moment, and absorbed all of the information. "Are you saying that this could be some sort of research station? Or something along those lines?" Teff asked. "I have no idea," Bates replied. "Well, with the knowledge I contain, I can provide some insight," Spark suddenly came to life again, his voice chipper and irritating as always. "If there is something there, it is not natural, nor has it ever been chartered by the fore.... I mean, any human craft. It is Covenant made, if it exists." Bates looked perplexed at the map, having nowhere to see the pesky AI. "And how exactly do you know that?" Bates asked. "Trust me, sir, he's right," Teff told him. "ONI can confirm it." "The last thing I want to deal with at this point are ONI spooks..." Bates began. "I will contact Admiral Stanforth as soon as we leave Slipstream. See if I can get us support, or surveillance, on this area." "Sir, getting anything through the Covenant's region of space will be tricky," Harvey chimed in. "If we are going to move in, I say it's with a fleet. It's the only thing that would help us. If we sent a probe, and there were no Covenant flagships around but there was indeed some kind of base, their ships would be there faster then you could say 'Grunt kabob.'" "He's right," Boarders replied. "It's all or nothing. And if the war keeps going the way it is for the human race, I'd say we'd end up with nothing not trying it anyway." Teff thought for a moment. It was a huge risk, sending in the warships into what could very well be empty space, an undefended station, or a shipyard. The three men seemed to be looking at him for his opinion. "I say we go in," said Teff. "Without a leap of faith, there's no way we can survive this war." Liberation Part VIII: Leap of Faith "Do you have any idea what that maniac soldier of yours almost did?!" Jenkins yelled. Bates merely looked at him, and awaited the response. "He could have killed that poor damn girl! Her legs could have been broken, he could have seriously bruised the ligaments!" Jenkins threw the papers to the ground. "He was damn lucky I was there to stop him though!" Bates clearly knew it was time to tell Jenkins what ONI had told him was 'need to know' information. "Jenkins, the Spartans are not regular soldiers," Bates began. "I can see that! That damn girl should have been killed instantly by the blast. I'm told that the MJOLNIR technology provides plasma protection, but she should at least have some broken bones." "Yes, I know," Bates said, taking in a deep breath and preparing to stand up. "You see, Doctor, the Spartans have received a great deal of, I suppose you could say, 'training.' What I'm about to tell you-" Bates was cut off as his intercom buzzed. Bates keyed it and awaited Hughes voice. "Sir, Admiral Stanforth broadcasting, alpha priority on an encrypted channel. Must be really important, took me five minutes to work my way through the encryption, but the picture may be a bit dicy because of it," Hughes voice sounded mechanical through the intercom. "Thank you, Lieutenant," Bates replied. "Doctor, if you'll excuse me, we'll have to speak at another time. This is of the utmost importance, and as you most likely understand, confidential." Jenkins yelled out in rage, and moved toward the door. It opened and the two marine guards turned around. Jenkins shoved one out of his way, and began moving in a quick stride down the hall. The door closed, and Bates locked it. Bates turned on his vid-phone, and a silhouette looked back at him. "I was expecting Stanforth. I thought this was a military operation," Bates said. "Not anymore," the silhouette replied. "This is a matter for intelligence, not for one of Stanforth's idiotic military operations." The silhouette italicized operations, lacing it with sarcasm. "So the operation is a go?" Bates asked, hopeful. "In a sense," the silhouette began. "We will be sending the Spartans in using a stealth Pelican, called a Raven. You will remain behind in the Heracles and monitor the activity in the area. Once the area is reconnoitered, the Heracles may move in for military assistance, the Raven may fall back, or the Spartans may continue with the operation as they see fit." "So we're sending in the only chance the human race has in a ship small enough to be run over by a cruiser, assuming that the stealth technology works, and that whatever they find can wait the hour it will take for us to reach them in Slipstream, assuming that the Heracles will be able to handle it?" Bates asked, skeptically. The silhouette sat there silently for a moment. "That is correct," the silhouette replied. "The Raven will arrive at your position within the hour." With that the vid-phone snapped off, and Bates was alone with his thoughts. "Teff was right about this," Bates said to himself. "It certainly will be a leap of faith." With that he stepped over to the papers Jenkins had hurled to the floor and examined them. Teff and his Spartans sat in waiting. He had not been this excited about a mission since his first operation on the Advocate, and it wasn't even necessarily on yet. He knew that Bates had only gone to speak with the Admiral about a half-hour ago, but he needed to find out whether or not the mission was on. He had asked Hughes to give him a call at the moment he thought Bates had received his answer from Stanforth. When the beep from the intercom on the wall came, he leaped from his seat and was to the intercom before Hughes had begun talking. "He just received a call from someone, but I'm not sure who," Hughes began. "But it must be important, given the security precautions surrounding it." "Thank you, Lieutenant," Teff said, stepping away from the intercom. "I'm off duty now," Hughes voice came through again. "No need for that Lieutenant stuff now, you can call me Jim." Teff stepped back toward the intercom, confused. "Thank you, Jim," Teff said after a moment's hesitation. Teff moved toward the door, his men watching his steps knowing where he was headed. All of them, but Dawson's, whose eyes were situated on something on the floor. Teff began to step toward him, but he stopped himself. He needed to find out about the mission, Dawson could wait. In the mean time, he would find out more about Amber's status. Teff stepped out the door and headed toward Bates' quarters. Teff walked to the guards who immediately let the Spartan in. Bates stood there mulling over some paperwork, and raised his head as Teff walked in. "I have some good news and I have some bad news," Bates began, before Teff had a chance to speak. "The good news is that ONI is letting us go forward with the operation. There will be a Raven here within the hour, but that can wait for the briefing." "I'm glad, sir," Teff replied, a smile on his face. "But what's this about bad news?" "Jenkins is submitting a request for a court martial hearing on what happened in Amber's room," Bates said, handing the paper that he was holding over to Teff. He scanned it quickly and saw that everything seemed to be filled out adequately to get a hearing. "So he calls it attacking a fellow soldier, does he?" Teff asked, giving a slight chuckle. "I call it helping out my fellow man. This will be shut down in court quickly after our training is explained." "That's the problem, Master Chief," Bates said. He only called Teff by his rank when he was gravely serious. "If they find out about the Spartan training there's going to be a lot more trouble for you. Although you were never told, what was done to you was not by the hand of the UNSC, but illegally by ONI operatives." Teff stood there for a moment, dumbfound. "But if it was illegal, how could they do it?" Teff asked. "Because, they knew the power of the Covenant. They knew that the Spartans were the human race's only chance, and they knew that no one in their right mind would submit a child to the Spartan program considering the risks they would be taking. Those altering drugs could have killed a lot more of you then they did, I'm surprised that more then half of you survived." Teff understood it all. Why he had never heard of anyone other people asking to be part of the Spartans. Why no one else had the strength, speed, or reflexes of them. "The past can't be changed. And if the UNSC considers my team illegal, product of criminals, or whatever they want to call it, then so be it. Until then, I will continue to serve under them," Teff said, staring with intensity at Bates. "You're a good man, you know that Teff?" Bates said, smiling. He gave him a light pat on the back. "Just know that if this hearing comes up, I'll be in your corner with you. Even if I get court marshaled too." The intercom beeped, and Hughes voice came over it. "Sir, we have an incoming Raven wishing to board, should we comply?" Hughes asked, confused. "Yes, Lieutenant. Welcome them aboard and see to it none of those ONI spooks leave the docking bay. We don't want them wandering around in our ship," Bates said, releasing the intercom. "Get your team together as quickly as you can, and I'll talk to the ONI spooks. We won't have time for an official briefing. I know you want to get on that Raven as fast as possible, so I'll keep it short when you get there." "Yes sir!" Teff yelled, saluting the Lieutenant Colonel sharply. Bates returned the salute, and Teff walked towards door. "Teff," Bates began. The Spartan turned to face him once more. "I hope you're right about this. Otherwise this leap of faith could lead to a whole lot of dead Spartans." "Believe me, sir," Teff began. "Like I told the good doctor. My ways always work. The only problem this time is finding out if I'll be alive to see them work." Liberation Part IX: Some Leap of Faith... Author's Notes It's been a while since I last posted anything, but I've been having a LOT of computer problems lately. But everything is more or less sorted out, so OPEN THE FLOOD GATES! Teff estimated they had been in slipstream for a good hour. He knew it was going to take an hour and twenty-eight minutes until they left slipstream, but he decided to get his team ready now, despite the amount of time they had. Liberation Part X: Friends and Foes "No, sir, I'm sorry," the pilot replied. "I can't see a thing. Are you sure you saw something when they fell out? There could have been some sort of anamoly, a wormhole or something, that they fell into. It's the only explanation. "No it isn't, there's something with energy shields around that gravity well," Boarders spoke back harshly. "But sir, we have no knowledge of the Covenant stealth technology working in space," the pilot said. "We have stealth technology, and they're more advanced then us in nearly every way," Boarders reminded him. "Ever stop to think that the reason we have no knowledge of it is because we've never caught any of them?" With that the pilot went silent. Boarders looked out the broken tail of the Raven once more. He was called back in by the co-pilot. "Sir, I have something here," the co-pilot said. "Is it Blue Leader and 3?" Boarders asked, hopeful. "No, sir," the co-pilot responded, seemingly apologetic. "It's a very large energy buildup. Whatever it is, it seems to be growing quite large. It's coming from the same area that Blue 3 and Leader disappeared into though." Boarders thought for a moment, and the thought of plasma pistol charging came to his mind. "Evasive manuevers, now!" Boarders yelled at him. The co-pilot and pilot began shuffling madly, and the Raven began moving eratically. There was a bright light, and the energy that had built up discharged. All the electronics in the ship began shorting out, the cockpit blazing with sparks that were being put out instantly by the vacuum. The pilot and co-pilot's vacuum suits ruptured, both of their mouths opening in silent screams of pain. The Raven went dead, floating closer to the gravity well, with the Spartans inside. "Spartans, gather weaponry and prepare for impact!" Boarders yelled over their channel. He had never been so glad that the MJOLNIR armor was resistant to EMP. Teff slid the silencer onto his MA7B Battle Rifle, and he and Harvey slid into the airlock ahead of them silently. Harvey had his custom Sniper Rifle he had assembled in the Raven with a pistol sidearm. Teff carried his Battle Rifle and a pistol as well. Through a series of hand signals, Teff indicated to Harvey that there should be radio silence. It was obvious, but he wanted to be sure the Covenant didn't hear anything. If they wanted to observe what was going on on this station, as well as be able to get through whatever garrison the Covenant had left alive, they had to be quiet about it. When they got through the other side of the airlock, they were greeted by a long hallway, which lead to a T-Junction. The two Spartans moved swiftly and silently down the corridor. When they reached the end of the hallway, a shudder moved passed through the ship, and various alarms began sounding. First was what Teff guessed as the collision alarm, the second for some sort of warning to the crew. Sounded as if the other Spartans had made an entrance. When the shudder moved through the ship, a few ceiling panels behind them collapsed. With that there came shouting from an elite down the hall, not far from them. "Stop them! They must not reach lab!" he bellowed. "We must continue, then we have sufficient reinforcements! Move out, they in corridor Alpha-Forty!" With that came the bounding of about thirty sets of feet. Teff pointed up to the collapsed ceiling. Harvey nodded, and walked toward the opening. He leaped up the three meters, and grabbed onto the ledge at the top, then pulled himself inside. He lowered his arm to grab Teff's hand as he leaped, and pulled the Master Chief and his three tonnes of MJOLNIR armor up with one hand. As soon as Teff had gotten into the duct, approximately thirty elites went charging past, followed by eight hunters. "At least there won't be much of a garrison left in the labs," Teff said nearly silently. He began moving through the duct in the general direction of the voice of the elite. After a minute or two of travelling through the vents, the solid ceiling turned into grates, allowing the Spartans to look down into the halls below. What they saw were four elites guarding the door they had just passed over, and four other rooms branching off from the hall. The duct ended just ahead, meaning they had probably arrived in the labs. Each lab would have an air lock, in case of accidents, or so Teff assumed. Teff motioned to Harvey for him to lift the grate, and he would drop a plasma grenade down. Harvey moved in nearly slow motion, lifting the grate and placing it down beside him. Harvey then lifted his sniper rifle, nodded, and focused it on one of the elites. Teff dropped the grenade as an elite walked directly beneath him. The grenade dropped the two meters, landing right on its nose. The elite made a confused noise, and tilted its head. The grenade exploded, vapourizing half of the elite, and killing one next to it. Harvey then fired, hitting an elite dead on, but not quite knocking out its shield. He fired a second bullet, killing the elite, as the last elite raised his plasma rifle towards the ceiling. By the time Teff had his gun again, and Harvey had fired his second bullet, the only remaining elite unloaded on the grates. The plasma burned through the grates, and they collapsed under the combined Spartan's weight. Harvey fell onto his head, his shield suffering greatly with his sniper rifle landing under the fallen pieces of ceiling. Teff fell right before the elite, with it looking right down on him. The Covenant beast reached down and lifted Teff up from his head. Teff punched the elite hard in the stomach, and it doubled over. Teff got to his feet, and charged at the elite who was now about five feet away from him. The elite raised his gun and prepared to fire. Teff reached the elite, and kicked it in the knee. There was a sharp crack, and the elite fell onto his other knee. Teff then used the other knee as a vault, and pushed off of it. He went flying into the air, grabbing the elite's arm, and kicking it as hard as he could in the chest. The force of the kick not only shattered the creature's armor, but because of Teff holding onto his arm, it was dislocated and broken. Teff landed on the ground to see a bullet go flying into the side of the elite's neck, sending purple blood flying everywhere. Teff turned to see Harvey holding his rifle leveled. "Thanks 3" Teff said. "No problem, Leader," Harvey replied. Teff pushed through some of the collapsed ceiling to find his battle rifle, unscathed. Teff motioned for them to move ahead, leaving the fallen Covenant soldiers behind. The Raven slammed through the shields of the station, and broke through the hull. Boarders and the other Spartans were tossed about, but suffered no casualties. Equipment was tossed everywhere, most of it flying out into space. "Sound off!" Boarders yelled. The other four Spartans called over the comm, and most of the equipment was still in tact. Except for Green Team's Jackhammer, everything was still operable. "We need to get into that station. Blue Leader and Three have probably already entered, and we now need to find a ride out. I want us in that station before the Covenant moves against us. In Zero-G, they are far more advanced, even for us Spartans. Everyone understand?" There was a resounding "Yes sir!" from the Spartans, and they fired up their thruster packs. The room they were in was quite small, and had contained only the purple pods that the Covenant had been known to use as storage. The Spartans moved to the door, Boarders cocking his Battle Rifle as they went. Teff and Harvey took the room to the lab on the left first, of which the airlock had been broken. But it hadn't been from the crash earlier, there were plasma burns all over it. The first door of the airlock was mostly melted, and the second had been blown off completely, most likely from one of the hunters the two Spartans had seen earlier. The room was nearly empty, except for what looked like cages all around the room, and a chair set in the middle. Scattered about the room were several of the chimp like creatures they had seen, all of them dead. One of them sat in the chair in the center, dead, but with some sort of helmet on. Harvey was examining a few of the creatures' restraints, which they were brought in on. "Looks like they've been chewed through," Harvey said. "Some kind of jail break maybe?" "It's possible," Teff replied. "But it just doesn't seem right. I doubt that this is an electric chair. I'm sure they'd have a much more efficient way to dispose of these things." Teff looked around the room. Although he had seen a scene such as this before, it was quite morbid. "Think about it. Why would they transport a group of these small animals here, in a stealth ship, without anyone knowing about them, merely to kill them off?" "To build an army!" Spark interrupted. "Oh, of course, it all makes sense! How could we have missed it?" "Spark, what are you talking about now?" Teff asked. "Well, you see, since you wouldn't allow me to speak for quite some time, I've been roaming throughout this station's databanks. After quite a bit of hacking I've managed to find it! Look at those creatures in front of you. Don't they look familiar? Imagine one running away from you screaming in terror. That might clear it up for you." With that it hit Teff. "A grunt? But I thought all of the species were loyal. Why would they have such high security, and why would some want to escape?" Harvey asked. "Maybe they were made to be loyal..." Teff replied, looking at the dead grunt slumped in the chair. "So they bring grunts to this station, brainwash them into thinking the Gods have declared our destruction, then set them loose. Nothing will bind you to a task more than faith." "Exactly, sir!" Spark said. "I have saved as much of the information that will be required to prove this. But may I suggest we go across the hall? There's something there we may find interesting." With Spark's suggestion, the two Spartans went across the hall to a locked air lock door. Teff looked through the translucent purple glass, and saw the large orange egg the hunters had brought in cracked and lying in the bottom of an incubator. Up close Teff could tell that the egg was easily two meters tall, which seemed much bigger than he remembered. "Hunters too, sir," Spark said. "But I'm sure that they would need much less coarsing. Their lack of intelligence would make it quite easy to brainwash them without the aid of a machine." "Lets check the last lab then find the rest of the Spartans, 3," Teff said. "Good. This place is giving me the creeps," Harvey replied. Teff and Harvey walked into the airlock, which was operational and unlocked. When Teff closed the door behind him and began cycling the airlock, an alarm began blaring. A Covenant voice came over some sort of PA system. "Humans have breached the labs," an elite yelled. "I want all teams to cancel export of cargo and move to intercept, now!" "Charming," Harvey said under his breath. "Spark, get this damn airlock cycling!" Teff yelled at the AI. "Already done, sir," Spark said. "Unfortunately, I can't get the air lock to cycle back the way we came though..." With that the air lock doors opened to show an ice covered habitat, with thousands of the unarmored grunts staring directly at them. Prologue |
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